The Covenant's Retaliation
by SuperSpiff
Summary: RE-SUBMITTED. Takes place after the destruction of Halo. The Covenant found out important information about humanity and are heading to Earth, with an ally. Can Master Chief stop them while battling feelings for a certain AI? R
1. Return of the Aliens

Hey, this is my first fanfic, EVER! So please be gentle. The first couple chapters might be short but eventually they will get longer. Reviews are welcome, but please no flames, instead, if you think this sucks, review and tell me what I did wrong, and I'll consider it.  
  
Setting: After Halo 1 (for the sake of this fic let's say Halo 2 doesn't exist because, then this fic wouldn't be realistic)  
  
Characters: Master Chief, Cortana, Admiral Gates (OC), Earth's Armed Forces (the UNSC), the remaining Covenant forces, and their ally (hint: the allies posed a major problem in the game).  
  
Summary: Shortly after the destruction of Halo, the Covenant find the monitor 343 Guilty Spark floating in space, and extract important information from it (remember that 343 uploaded almost all of the Pillar of Autumn's data into it). This information includes battle tactics, base locations, and, the location of Earth. That's not the worst part. Not only are the Covenant going to Earth, but they've made a new ally.  
  
DISCALAIMER: I don't own Halo or its characters. It's not mine, it's Bungie's and Microsoft's, I think, BUT ITS NOT MINE.  
  
"" represent human conversation  
  
'' represents thought  
  
{} represents alien conversation  
  
Dust. That's all that remained of the ring-world, Halo, and all of its inhabitants at the time that it had exploded. Correction: After HE had blown it up. He blamed himself for the lives lost on Halo. Cortana had tried to cheer him up, saying things like, "Chief, you had to do it," and "We'd be dead if you didn't." But he shook off her sentiments. He was also a little confused. He wasn't programmed/trained to experience concern and sadness. However, clearly, that's what he was feeling. 'That AI's making me soft,' he thought as he chuckled at the idea of him growing gentle.  
"Chief," Cortana spoke, "No time for self-pity, Chief. I'm detecting a Covenant Battle Cruiser, three Covenant frigates, three Covenant transports, and six, no make that eight fighters. Probably some of the last remaining Covenant forces. Wait, There's another ship, unknown identity. Anyways, they're all approaching this destination."  
"When will they be here?" the Master Chief asked hoarsely.  
"ETA is 23 seconds. Shall I initiate a jump," Cortana asked, getting somewhat worried.  
The Master Chief paused before replying, "Affirmative."  
"Where to?"  
"Earth," the Spartan II said simply.  
Cortana didn't need to be told twice, and quickly started a warp jump, destination: Earth.  
Approximately 15 seconds later 16 ships appeared where the Master Chief's transport had just been. The commander, a golden elite aboard the cruiser, switched on his communications. {All fighters, this is GE-1. Spread out and look for any survivors. If they are human,} he paused, {dispose of them quickly.}  
After a few hours, a Covenant voice crackled over the radio. It was the hunter in charge of the fighters. {Sir, this is H-1. No survivors have been found. However, a small talking ball has been brought aboard one of our ships. It claims it has important information as to the whereabouts of the enemy. Shall I bring it in?}  
The commander thought about this for a moment. {Yes go ahead and bring it onto the cruiser. This ball may hold our key to victory.}  
GE-1 immediately appeared in the docking bay anxious to question the sphere. When the commander met with the ball, the orb spoke first. In nearly perfect Covenant dialect, it stated, {Greetings! I have important information regarding the species that you seek.}  
{Excellent!} the elite shouted, {What is it by which you are called?}  
{Oh yes,} the ball replied, {I am 343 Guilty Spark.}  
{And what of this information you have about these beings. What do you know about them?}  
{Well,} 343 started, {I have data varying from profiles of their soldiers to,} it paused, {the location of their home world.}  
{EXCELLENT!} the golden elite roared, {You three guards over there, get over here.}  
Three grunts hobbled over to the commander, {Yes, sir?} the three asked in unison.  
{Take this fine sphere to the ship's data core. Let him upload his information into it, and then bring him to the,} he halted briefly, {guest ship,} the last two words rolled off his tongue in an eerie fashion.  
The grunts stood nervously before replying, {Y-y-ye-yes, s-sir,} not sounding too enthusiastic at all.  
However, the grunts did as they were told and led 343 Guilty Spark to the information core. There he transferred all of his data into it and awaited the grunts who would show him to the special ship. No one spoke as the four enemies slowly walked through the corridors to the escape pods. They all entered one and jettisoned towards the guest ship. One of the grunts finally spoke up, {This is the ship of our ally. You will find it comfortable.}  
343 merely signaled his approval as they docked inside of the olive- green ship. The grunts then led the robot to a large door. Slowly it slid open and one of the grunts ushered the ball inside. The room was pitch black, the only light that shown was 343's blue glow, and all one could hear was a series of grunts and murmurs. Also there seemed to be a large pit in the middle of the room. {What's this?} 343 asked in a slightly suspicious tone.  
And with that, the grunts ran out as fast as their little legs could carry them while the door closed and locked right behind them. 343 Guilty Spark was very nervous now as the sounds were becoming louder and more vicious. He slowly began to scout the area (staying close to the ceiling), but it wasn't long before the Covenant's new ally were upon him. With a few great groans, some of the organisms inside the chamber leapt onto him and brought him down into the pit, where the rest of them were waiting. {What kind of ship is this?! IT'S FULL OF-,} was all 343 could get out before the Covenant's new ally, the flood, ripped him apart right down to the last microchip.  
The small grunts quickly made their way back to the main cruiser and reported to GE-1. {Has the ball been disposed of?} he quietly asked.  
{Yes, sir. He won't pose a problem to us,} a grunt replied.  
{Good,} the commander said shortly, {And the data?} he asked a jackal sitting at a computer.  
{It's all here, commander,} he replied.  
{Perfect,} he bellowed in the Covenant language as he switched on his communicator, {Attention all ships. This is GE-1. I am sending some very important data. It is information about the enemy. Also, I am sending you coordinates to a planet. It is the enemy's home world. Initiate a jump to this location. I will be there soon.}  
The Covenant did as they were told and all of the ships but the flood's (who was under control of the main cruiser) blasted off toward Earth. Meanwhile, the commander opened another communication link with Covenant High-Command. Soon a deep voice came in, {This is Covenant HC.}  
{Yes, this is GE-1. I have important data regarding the humans. These are the coordinates to their home planet, please send reinforcements there.}  
{Excellent. Reinforcements will arrive in approximately one month.}  
{Good,} GE-1 replied, {We should have most of the planet under our control by the time you get there.}  
{Are you sure you can handle an entire planet with such a small fleet? Maybe you shou-,} but he was cut off as the golden elite killed the communications.  
{Engineer, initiate a warp to the enemy's home world, and bring the ally's ship with us.}  
{Yes, sir,} a grunt replied and sent the ships off towards Earth.  
  
Ok, like I said, this is my first fic so there's bound to be mistakes. R&R and please no flames, instead give me advice. I will update as often as possible but no guarantees as to when the next chapter will come out. Oh yeah, please don't tell me you didn't see that the ball wasn't 343 (the little backstabber).  
  
Next chapter: Unhappy reunions. 


	2. Unhappy Reunion

I don't own Halo. . .I just play it a lot.  
  
I am continuing this fic because of high demand to do so, I was gonna' stop production. ALSO, I appreciate the advice you have given me, and also that you haven't flamed me. I am thinking of re-submitting the first chapter with some people's advice. Let me know if you would like that to happen. OK now to the story.  
  
O YES. . . THERE IS LIGHT SWEARING!!  
  
Master Chief came out of his jump in front of a big, blue planet, seemingly full of activity. He quickly made his way through the atmosphere and promptly arrived at the UNSC Headquarters. Master Chief casually walked into the building and soon found himself in front of Admiral Gates's door (he's my OC). "He was the second-in-command when Keyes died," Cortana informed the Chief.  
Master Chief continued through the door to meet a grim looking man in about his late fifties. "Do you have ANY idea as to how many marines we lost on that ring?" he immediately started in.  
Cortana spoke up, "Approximately," she paused, "Four hundred twenty- six."  
"Exactly," Gates continued, "Four hundred twenty-six soldiers lost their lives because of your carelessness. If you weren't a Spartan, I'd have your ass discharged faster than-"  
"With all due respect, sir," Cortana interrupted, "If we didn't blow Halo up-"  
"FOUR HUNDRED TWENTY-SIX MARINES MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE. As much as I would love to court marshal you two right now," he paused, "I can't. Chief, I need you to remove Cortana's chip from your helmet. We're giving her a body."  
The Spartan stood there, stunned, and for once, Cortana was speechless. "Well, let's have it," Gates continued.  
The Chief didn't waste any time and quickly took Cortana's data chip from his helmet. He paused, and gave it to the Admiral. "Dismissed," Gates whispered to the Chief, and walked out the door. Master Chief slowly made his way to Cybernetics Ward (where they performed any operations involving AIs, androids, and cyborgs). He sat there for what seemed like hours, but when he dared to glance at the clock, a mere forty-five minutes had passed. 'Oh my God when will this day end,' he thought to himself. His thoughts began to wander. He began to daydream of what Cortana's body would be like, secretly hoping it would be a larger version of her AI frame. At that moment, a two people walked through the door. One was a scientist, the other was, "Another Spartan II?!" Master Chief shouted.  
"Very astute of you, Master Chief. The Admiral requested that you had partner that could help you not only with problems involving data, but also on the battlefield. May I present to you, Cortana, the newest Spartan II."  
Cortana removed her helmet, and to the Chief's expectations, her android body was an exact copy of her AI appearance, only bigger. "Hmm, brains AND beauty, huh?" the Chief said after examining the "new" Cortana.  
"Don't get any ideas tough guy," she replied with a smirk.  
They began walking back to Gates's office to receive their new orders, which, assuming Gates was still mad, were probably to explore the inside of an erupting volcano. Master Chief tried to initiate a conversation with Cortana. "So. . .How's it like having a body, or a human body at least?"  
"It's not bad. I can go where I want, when I want. It's just that. . .well I've never had this type of body. I guess it'll just take time to get used to," and with that, they arrived at Admiral Gates's office.  
His secretary spoke up, "I'm sorry, but the Admiral is in a meeting, you cannot go in."  
The two Spartan's took their seats, not at all pleased. They sat for hours and made idle chit-chat until they were finally called in. They walked in and sat down in front of the Admiral. "I'm not gonna' waste time with pleasantries. Here are your re-assignment orders," he handed them some papers.  
Cortana was the first to break the silence, "Sir, these can't be right. These order us to report to. . .Siberia. These orders must be wrong."  
Even though over 93% of the available land on Earth had been colonized, Siberia, along with some of the Brazilian Rainforest, was declared uninhabitable. "Admiral, she's right," Master Chief agreed, " Besides, there isn't even a base out there."  
"Oh but that's where your wrong," Gates said smugly. "We recently built an installation there. Class D, bottom-of-the-line. Now hurry up, your transport leaves in 30 minutes."  
The Chief sighed and Cortana sulked as they proceeded to the hangar to meet their transport. It was a silent flight, not a word was exchanged. When they got to the base, it was exactly like the Admiral had described, "Bottom-of-the-line." As the two walked in, they noticed a few dilapidated shacks and random supplies. "Hello, sir, ma'am," a shivering guard approached, "Your bunks are on the far east of the compound. . .That's all you really need to know about this hellhole. Oh yeah, enjoy your stay."  
"Wow," Master Chief spoke, "Some welcoming committee."  
Cortana merely nodded. "Something wrong?" the Chief asked, seemingly concerned.  
"No," she replied, "It's just that. . .I actually get a body and I have to go HERE."  
"Don't worry about it. Gates just needs to cool off. Another month and we'll be out of here."  
They both trudged to their bunks, unaware of the actions that were taking place above them. {FIRE AT WILL! Leave none of them alive,} GE-1 shouted through the communications link. The Covenant were attacking the UNSC fleet. Correction: they were ripping through the UNSC fleet. The main portion of humanity's defenses had been destroyed during the attack on Reach. What was left was a small back-up division, and frankly, they weren't putting up much of a fight. Soon the entire UNSC starfleet was in shreds. They never even had time to radio Earth to warn them of the incoming invaders. {HA!} the commander shouted, {These weaklings never stood a chance,} he then switched his communication link on, {Attention all ships. Prepare to land on the enemy planet.}  
In moments, the Covenant division was heading to the Earth's atmosphere. They figured they should try to land in an area not inhabited by humans to keep the element of surprise. SO, they decided to land in, THAT'S RIGHT, Siberia. {All ships, this is GE-1. You are now cleared to land on the enemy planet.}  
Cortana was sitting on her "bed", a poorly made cot, when she heard a rumble. She quickly ran outside and looked up. "Oh, you have GOT to be KIDDING me!"  
  
THAT'S CHAPTER TWO.sorry it took so long, but with school and all coming up, most of my chapters will take forever to post. Sorry, but school comes first!  
  
Chapter 3: Coincidence? 


End file.
